Foo - Anyone have HughesNet satellite internet?

I'm considering ordering HughesNet (direcway) internet but I am having a little trouble convincing myself. Is anyone here using it? If so are you happy with it? Also, what is your monthly bill after all of the hidden charges?

Right now installation is $499 not including a $100 rebate. For the 700 kbs download / 128 kbs upload it is $59 a month.

What alternatives do you have available in your area?

Right now I am on aol dial-up if that tells you anything. :o In other words, there aren't really any other options.

I used to be a Tech Support Supervisor at an ISP, DirecWay was one of our vendors. People had lots of problems with it back then, but I've been away from it for a good five years or so now, so it may have improved since then.

Before you sign up, ask if HughesNet has a 'Fair Access Policy', and ask for the details of it. Sometimes they limit the amount of data you can download on a daily/weekly/monthly basis, and once you reach that threshold you have to wait for a certain amount of time to pass before you can use the service again. It's done to keep a handful of people from generating so much traffic that it bottlenecks the service for everyone. If there is a Fair Access Policy, the terms may allow the service to still suit your needs just fine, but its worth looking into so there are no surprises.

Solution: Move outta WV and get cable internet

I think I downloaded itunes at 3 megs a second.

Lobby Comcast or Insight communications to come into your area! Insight does develop new cable markets and they'll build the infrastructure to handle 10 meg UL/DL capability!

Thanks for the advice everyone.

Jerseysbest, I was in Jersey picking up an M3 a few months ago. I'll stick with my dial-up. ;)

It's not that useful for web browsing, due to the long lag times between the request and the page. But it would help if you do a lot of large downloads.

Thanks, I think I will hold off a bit. I just called Time Warner cable. Even though internet is not available through them right now they said they are planning upgrades over the next three to nine months. At that time 3 meg will be $25, 6 meg will be $46. I've waited this long, whats a few more months?